8天攻克英语六级8000词汇(六)
2009-10-15来源:和谐英语
NAPKIN: first a little tablecloch
The tiny paper napkins that we use at times would never have done in the old days when knives,and spoons were limited,or nonexixtent.Then you needed a tremendous linen square to mop up with.These enormous napkins were a sign of elegance long after flat sliver came in,and even in the 1890's large napkins were an important part of any top-drawer dinner.We have the word napery now for table linen,and in this term is buried another word,nape,which once meant tablecloth.In our language when we say napkin we mean a little nape,which is an Old French word,and so "a little tablecloth."In Old French the derivative of nape was naperon.This was borrowed into Middle English as naperon and an apron was first called a napron,but by error the initial n became joined to the a and an apron took the place of a napron.In similar fashion the snake,an adder,used to be called"a nadder."And all of this finally derives from the Latin word mappa which also meant napkin or"cloth."
OMELETTE:originally a thin blade
The history of this word is just as mixed up as a modern omelette.The term came to us by a series of absurd blunders.The Latin word lamella,"a thin plate,"entered French as la melle,and later the word was reinterpreted as l'alemelle.But the French already had a word alemette which meant the thin blade of a sword,and before we know it l'alemelle is being spelled l'alemette,and later on,omelette.So,if you have followed through this labyrinth,you will see that an omelette is really a thin blade and has practically nothing to do with eggs.And while on the subject of omelette the word yolk comes quite understandably form its color.It is a derivative of the Middle English word yolke through Old English geolca,from geolu,"yellow."
ONION:related to a pearl
In Latin there is a word union which is translated as "oneness"or"union".The word onion is derived form this Latin term.It rates its name because it consists of a number of united layers.There is also another interesting analogy between union and onion.The rustics about Rome not only used the word unio to mean onion,but they also thought it a suitable desigation for a pearl.And even today a cook will speak of "pearl onions"when she means the small,slivery-white variety.
ORGY:meant secret rites
Dionysius was a god and giver of the grape and the wine.The grateful Greek held night festivals in his honor,and these often turned into drunken parties where the boys and girls danced and sang and violated all the sex laws.The Greek called
6. Political Terms and Their Origins
BALLOT: why we “cast” a ballot
The ballot we cast and the bullet we shoot were both balls at the beginning, but are descended from widely different parents. Bullet comes down to us through the French boulette, “a small ball,” from the Latin bulla, a “bubble,” “boss,” or “stud,” while ballot traces to the Italian ballota. “a little ball,” a word of Germanic origin. With us a ballot is sheet of paper we put a cross on and drop in a box on election day, unless we are dealing with voting machines. But the ancient Greek dropped a white ball of stone or metal or shell in a container when he favored a candidate, a black ball when he was against-which explains why the undesirable are still “blackballed” in our clubs. The ball we throw and bat around in our games has a closely related parentage as it comes from the same Germanic source as the Italian ballotta.
BALLYHOO: from county cork, Ireland
When you raise a lot of ballyhoo you are making a general fuss and pother. This all is thought to have grown out of a village called Ballyhooly, that lies east of Mallow in Cork County, Ireland. As the congressional Record of March, 1934, says: “The residents engage in most strenuous debate, a debate that is without equal in the annals of parliamentary, or ordinary discussion, and from the violence of these debates has sprung forth a word known in the English language as ballyhoo.”
BRIBE: a piece of bread
Many of the words that concern themselves with the idea of companionship or conciliation (including these two words themselves) have to do with the sharing of food. Bribe is such a word. In modern French, and in the plural, bribes means bits, odds, ends, and leavings, but in Old French it meant a lump of bread, or, as an olden-time author said: “A peece, lumpe or cantill of bread given unto a beggar.” The development of bribe seems to have been along the following lines: first a piece of bread, then begging, then living by beggary, then theft, and finally blackmail and bribery in the modern sense.
BUNK: a speech for Buncombe County
Around the year 1820 a debate was in progress in the House of Representatives on the complicated question of the Missouri Compromise. In the middle of the discussion a member from Buncombe County, North Carolina, arose and started a long, dull, and completely irrelevant talk. Many members walked out. Others called for the question. Finally the speaker apologized with the now famous statement: “I’m talking for buncombe,” which meant, of course, for his constituents in Buncombe which was a county in his district. According to the Niles’ Weekly Register, published in Philadelphia from 1811 to 1849, the phrase “talking to (or for) Bunkum” was well-known in 1828. We clipped the word to bunk, which now means inflated and empty speech or pretentious humbuggery. A colorful and expressive derivative of this word is debunk which came into use in the early 1920’s. The debunkers were first a school of historians in the years between Wars I and II who were popular for the straightforward and outspoken ways in which they stripped some of our heroic figures.
CANDIDATE: clad in white
When a Roman politician went campaigning he took care that his toga was immaculately white so that he could make the best impression possible. The Latin word candidates first simply meant “a person dressed in white” but later it took on the meaning that our word candidate has, a seeker after office. The root of candidates can be recognized in our word incandescent which means “white and glowing” and in candid, for a candid person, in the figurative sense is white and pure, and therefore frank and honest.
CARTEL: originally a chart
Here is a word that has gone through dramatic changes of meaning. It originated in the Latin term charta which meant “paper” and gave us our English word chart. A cartel was originally a written challenge to a fight. Then later it meant a libelous statement in writing. By the 17th century it was an agreement concerning the exchange of prisoners in a war. And now it has the dignified meaning of “an agreement in restraint of trade,” or one of those international combines that makes such an agreement about the fixing of prices and output.
FASCISM: based on a bundle
If you will look on the back of the American dime, you will see the mark of the Fascist. The term Fascism comes from the Italian Fascismo and this in turn is built on the Latin fascis which meant a bundle, usually a bundle of sticks or rods. This bundle, with the ax protruding, was the symbol of official power that was carried before all Roman magistrates. Benito Mussolini resurrected it ofr his own use.
FILIBUSTER: once a freebooter
The buccaneers who infested the West Indies and the SpanishAmerican Coast in the 17th century were called filibusters and freebooters. The word freebooter come from the Danish vrijbuiter, vrij, “free,” and buit, “booty,” but vrijbuiter gave us another word by another route. It passed into French as filibuster, then into Spanish as filibustero, and so into English as filibuster. The word came to mean anyone who waged an irregular sort of warfare for his own gain. And now a filibuster is conducted by a sometimes irregular sort of congressman who speaks interminably to delay legislation.
GERRYMANDER: child of a salamander
Coined around 1812 and infrequently used except in politics. At that time the Massachusetts legislature ingeniously contrived to rearrange the shape of Essex County so as the better to control elections. When they got through with their redistribution it was noticed that this county resembled a salamander. The governor of the state at that time was Elbridge Gerry and a smart newspaper editor used his surname and the last half of salamander to create gerrymander. Such a redistribution of boundaries today for the purposes of political advantages is still called gerrymandering.
GOVERNOR: he directed a ship
When we speak of the “ship of state” we are more accurate than we know, for to the Greeks their word kybernao meant to “direct a ship” and, also, even in those days it had the figurative meaning to “direct the ship of state.” Kybernao isn’t too far in sound from governor. The Romans borrowed the word as guberno, passed it on to the French; then it crossed the channel to England as governor. The president of the United States, however, is actually a presiding officer, for the word president comes from the Latin praesideo, “sit in front of” or “protect”; and the Premier of England should really be the first and topmost citizen of his country because Premier is from the Latin word primaries which means “belonging to the first rank.” The Czar is another story, for it traces back to the old Slavic word cesare which obviously owes its beginning to Caesar, the name of the Roman emperors. The title Tsar was first used in Russia in the 15th century and was adopted as his official title by Ivan the Terrible in 1547.
The tiny paper napkins that we use at times would never have done in the old days when knives,and spoons were limited,or nonexixtent.Then you needed a tremendous linen square to mop up with.These enormous napkins were a sign of elegance long after flat sliver came in,and even in the 1890's large napkins were an important part of any top-drawer dinner.We have the word napery now for table linen,and in this term is buried another word,nape,which once meant tablecloth.In our language when we say napkin we mean a little nape,which is an Old French word,and so "a little tablecloth."In Old French the derivative of nape was naperon.This was borrowed into Middle English as naperon and an apron was first called a napron,but by error the initial n became joined to the a and an apron took the place of a napron.In similar fashion the snake,an adder,used to be called"a nadder."And all of this finally derives from the Latin word mappa which also meant napkin or"cloth."
OMELETTE:originally a thin blade
The history of this word is just as mixed up as a modern omelette.The term came to us by a series of absurd blunders.The Latin word lamella,"a thin plate,"entered French as la melle,and later the word was reinterpreted as l'alemelle.But the French already had a word alemette which meant the thin blade of a sword,and before we know it l'alemelle is being spelled l'alemette,and later on,omelette.So,if you have followed through this labyrinth,you will see that an omelette is really a thin blade and has practically nothing to do with eggs.And while on the subject of omelette the word yolk comes quite understandably form its color.It is a derivative of the Middle English word yolke through Old English geolca,from geolu,"yellow."
ONION:related to a pearl
In Latin there is a word union which is translated as "oneness"or"union".The word onion is derived form this Latin term.It rates its name because it consists of a number of united layers.There is also another interesting analogy between union and onion.The rustics about Rome not only used the word unio to mean onion,but they also thought it a suitable desigation for a pearl.And even today a cook will speak of "pearl onions"when she means the small,slivery-white variety.
ORGY:meant secret rites
Dionysius was a god and giver of the grape and the wine.The grateful Greek held night festivals in his honor,and these often turned into drunken parties where the boys and girls danced and sang and violated all the sex laws.The Greek called
6. Political Terms and Their Origins
BALLOT: why we “cast” a ballot
The ballot we cast and the bullet we shoot were both balls at the beginning, but are descended from widely different parents. Bullet comes down to us through the French boulette, “a small ball,” from the Latin bulla, a “bubble,” “boss,” or “stud,” while ballot traces to the Italian ballota. “a little ball,” a word of Germanic origin. With us a ballot is sheet of paper we put a cross on and drop in a box on election day, unless we are dealing with voting machines. But the ancient Greek dropped a white ball of stone or metal or shell in a container when he favored a candidate, a black ball when he was against-which explains why the undesirable are still “blackballed” in our clubs. The ball we throw and bat around in our games has a closely related parentage as it comes from the same Germanic source as the Italian ballotta.
BALLYHOO: from county cork, Ireland
When you raise a lot of ballyhoo you are making a general fuss and pother. This all is thought to have grown out of a village called Ballyhooly, that lies east of Mallow in Cork County, Ireland. As the congressional Record of March, 1934, says: “The residents engage in most strenuous debate, a debate that is without equal in the annals of parliamentary, or ordinary discussion, and from the violence of these debates has sprung forth a word known in the English language as ballyhoo.”
BRIBE: a piece of bread
Many of the words that concern themselves with the idea of companionship or conciliation (including these two words themselves) have to do with the sharing of food. Bribe is such a word. In modern French, and in the plural, bribes means bits, odds, ends, and leavings, but in Old French it meant a lump of bread, or, as an olden-time author said: “A peece, lumpe or cantill of bread given unto a beggar.” The development of bribe seems to have been along the following lines: first a piece of bread, then begging, then living by beggary, then theft, and finally blackmail and bribery in the modern sense.
BUNK: a speech for Buncombe County
Around the year 1820 a debate was in progress in the House of Representatives on the complicated question of the Missouri Compromise. In the middle of the discussion a member from Buncombe County, North Carolina, arose and started a long, dull, and completely irrelevant talk. Many members walked out. Others called for the question. Finally the speaker apologized with the now famous statement: “I’m talking for buncombe,” which meant, of course, for his constituents in Buncombe which was a county in his district. According to the Niles’ Weekly Register, published in Philadelphia from 1811 to 1849, the phrase “talking to (or for) Bunkum” was well-known in 1828. We clipped the word to bunk, which now means inflated and empty speech or pretentious humbuggery. A colorful and expressive derivative of this word is debunk which came into use in the early 1920’s. The debunkers were first a school of historians in the years between Wars I and II who were popular for the straightforward and outspoken ways in which they stripped some of our heroic figures.
CANDIDATE: clad in white
When a Roman politician went campaigning he took care that his toga was immaculately white so that he could make the best impression possible. The Latin word candidates first simply meant “a person dressed in white” but later it took on the meaning that our word candidate has, a seeker after office. The root of candidates can be recognized in our word incandescent which means “white and glowing” and in candid, for a candid person, in the figurative sense is white and pure, and therefore frank and honest.
CARTEL: originally a chart
Here is a word that has gone through dramatic changes of meaning. It originated in the Latin term charta which meant “paper” and gave us our English word chart. A cartel was originally a written challenge to a fight. Then later it meant a libelous statement in writing. By the 17th century it was an agreement concerning the exchange of prisoners in a war. And now it has the dignified meaning of “an agreement in restraint of trade,” or one of those international combines that makes such an agreement about the fixing of prices and output.
FASCISM: based on a bundle
If you will look on the back of the American dime, you will see the mark of the Fascist. The term Fascism comes from the Italian Fascismo and this in turn is built on the Latin fascis which meant a bundle, usually a bundle of sticks or rods. This bundle, with the ax protruding, was the symbol of official power that was carried before all Roman magistrates. Benito Mussolini resurrected it ofr his own use.
FILIBUSTER: once a freebooter
The buccaneers who infested the West Indies and the SpanishAmerican Coast in the 17th century were called filibusters and freebooters. The word freebooter come from the Danish vrijbuiter, vrij, “free,” and buit, “booty,” but vrijbuiter gave us another word by another route. It passed into French as filibuster, then into Spanish as filibustero, and so into English as filibuster. The word came to mean anyone who waged an irregular sort of warfare for his own gain. And now a filibuster is conducted by a sometimes irregular sort of congressman who speaks interminably to delay legislation.
GERRYMANDER: child of a salamander
Coined around 1812 and infrequently used except in politics. At that time the Massachusetts legislature ingeniously contrived to rearrange the shape of Essex County so as the better to control elections. When they got through with their redistribution it was noticed that this county resembled a salamander. The governor of the state at that time was Elbridge Gerry and a smart newspaper editor used his surname and the last half of salamander to create gerrymander. Such a redistribution of boundaries today for the purposes of political advantages is still called gerrymandering.
GOVERNOR: he directed a ship
When we speak of the “ship of state” we are more accurate than we know, for to the Greeks their word kybernao meant to “direct a ship” and, also, even in those days it had the figurative meaning to “direct the ship of state.” Kybernao isn’t too far in sound from governor. The Romans borrowed the word as guberno, passed it on to the French; then it crossed the channel to England as governor. The president of the United States, however, is actually a presiding officer, for the word president comes from the Latin praesideo, “sit in front of” or “protect”; and the Premier of England should really be the first and topmost citizen of his country because Premier is from the Latin word primaries which means “belonging to the first rank.” The Czar is another story, for it traces back to the old Slavic word cesare which obviously owes its beginning to Caesar, the name of the Roman emperors. The title Tsar was first used in Russia in the 15th century and was adopted as his official title by Ivan the Terrible in 1547.
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